"Epidemiological Statistics was a great refresher for advanced statistics using sample data sets and applied examples. It was a very useful and informative course."
PHDA testimonials
PHDA 02 Epidemiological Statistics
PHDA Overall program/course experience
"The Secure Research Training Lab (SRTL) was the best. It was a bit complicated to start with for the first time, but I quickly got used to logging on and working in the environment. It’s well worth the effort to be able to do hands-on work with data, with peer and instructor support, and very good technical support (the few times I needed it).
Another strength of the program is being able to work with motivated and knowledgeable peers, learn from one another through well-moderated forum discussions and collaboration. Having dedicated and clear instructors who are patient with distance ed/online format was also a major advantage. Although you are only required to take four courses to achieve the certificate, I took all six courses available. I felt all courses were very positive experiences for me, with top notch students and teachers who were very engaged and supportive."
PHDA full testimonial
- How did you learn about the program and what motivated you to enroll?
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I was looking for a professional development opportunity to brush up my data analysis skills and further develop them. I found about the program online through my own search. Reviewing the course offerings, I quickly thought the program would be a great fit for me.
- Tell us about your course experience. What skills did you develop and which courses provided the greatest benefit to you?
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All four courses I have taken offered different benefits. Epidemiological statistics was a great review with additional learnings. I appreciated gaining practical experience with tools I wasn’t previously familiar with – e.g. SAS and ArcGIS. Through Program Monitoring and Evaluation, I have gained a new skillset and understanding of evaluation that I can apply to my professional work.
- How have you been able to (or how do you plan to) apply your new skills in your work/research?
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As noted above, I have been able to apply tools I’ve learned from program evaluation to my current work, for our program evaluation. Although I haven’t directly applied other data analysis skills to my work yet, I hope to do so soon.
- What do you think were the strengths of this program? Please provide examples.
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Great instructors with content expertise who are also very accessible for extra support, good class size with diverse classmates, and flexibility that the online learning offers.
- Would you recommend this program to others? If so, what recommendations/suggestions would you give those interested in applying to this program?
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Yes. If anyone is interested in one of the courses offered, I would encourage them to look into the certificate program as I think they would likely find other courses also interesting and valuable in strengthening population health data analysis skills. I would also emphasize that although online learning offers flexibility they would need to be able to set aside a chunk of time each week to successfully complete the course and make the most of it.
PHDA 05 Longitudinal Analysis and Multi-level Modeling of Population Health Data
"I found PHDA 05 (Longitudinal Analysis and Multi-level Modelling of Population Health Data) to be the most rewarding as it exposed me to higher level quantitative analyses."
PHDA 05 Longitudinal Analysis and Multi-level Modeling of Population Health Data
"I plan to undertake some mapping of hotspots where illicit drug use is most common. For my interests at this time, I found the longitudinal data analysis course (PHDA 05) and geocoding skills in (PHDA 03) were the most helpful. This is because with increasing use of multiple drugs it is important to determine where outbreaks occur and be able to establish cohorts of people who use these substances and then follow over time determining predictors of change."
University of British Columbia, 201-2206 East Mall, Vancouver BC V6T 1Z3
Health Data Research Network Canada (HDRN) member
International Population Data Linkage Network (IPDLN) member
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